Page 144 - Demo

EditorialsT h i s ! r/*_*!*' T %u00ab %u00ab r r %u00bb c I I I C U U W I | I V V l > u i i r aThe lowly worm finally turned, although admittedly by accident. NewYork%u2019s City Council, for the first time that anyone can remember, this weekdecided against confirming two of Mayor Koch%u2019s nominees to theConciliations and Appeals Board, the watchdog over rent control and suchrelated matters.The development is suprising in a council which normally rolls over andplays dead at the instruction of the Mayor. The Majority Leader stumbledaround trying to switch votes to save the nominations, but time and CouncilPresident Carol Bellamy%u2019s gavel beat them.Mayor Koch was reported to be slightly disturbed, but New Yorkers canactually rejoice in the affair. Those who opposed the nominations did so forvarious good reasons%u2014the fact that they suspected the new men wouldunfairly bias the group in favor of landlords or just the plain fact that theywere men%u2014but, when added up, they provided a rare and refreshing exampleof independence where it is all too seldom seen.Some members of the council%u2014admittedly those who supported thenominations%u2014have been critical of Majority Leader Thomas Cuite%u2019s handlingof the affair. But surely the fault lies at a more basic level. Perhaps it indeedlies at the Mayor%u2019s own doorstep or at least amid the phalanx of DeputyMayors and other advisors whofhelp him make such nominee selections.This is not the first time that the Koch administration has been foundwanting in its choice of candidates for relatively important office%u2014and whocan deny that a group which passes on rents for thousands of New Yorkers isnot important?Let us hope then that when next candidates are suggested for theConciliations and Appeals Board, and, indeed, for any other appointed cityposts, the administration takes more care.Until that happens, let us all continue to enjoy a modest smirk at thechagrin of the usually methodical Tom Cuite and the %u201c slight disturbance%u201d ofthe mayor.Off the Record BY Jen CinerrSpecial CombinedDaily EditionThursdayAugust 17Michael A. ArmstrongPublisherJudy LinscottEditorMichael A. ArmstrongPublisherJon CinerEditorPublished by Serif Press Inc.395 Atlantic Ave.Brooklyn, N.Y. 11217Won't Be ShyMayor Koch won%u2019t be shying away from local politics this year. As the titular %u201cleader%u201d of Democrats city-wide, afterall, there%u2019s no reason to expect that he would avoid getting involved in local skirmishes, even if some of them are controversial.This week, the Mayor gave Brooklyn Congressman Fred Richmond a formal endorsement for the Democratic primary, where Richmond will face, among others, former School Board Deputy Chancellor Bernard Gifford. In a letter addressed %u201cto the voters of the 14th Congressional District,%u201d Koch praised his former colleague for forging a coalition among agricultural and rural House members on the House Agricultural Committee, an %u201cinnovative coalition that was a major reason aid for New York passed the House by the wide margin it did.%u201dKoch endorsed Richmond %u201c on the basis of his record in Congress and his hard work on behalf of the neighborhoods he represents.%u201d The Mayor also endorsed William Woodward, a former Deputy Superintendant of the State Banking Department and publisher of %u201c More%u201d Magazine, who may or may not have been responsible for getting banks to make more mortgage loans and opening up credit for women - if you believe or don%u2019t believe his radio ads. Woodward is running in the Democratic primary against Brenda Feigen Fasteau, for the opportunity to run against State Senator Roy M. Goodman in the 26thDistrict along Manhattan%u2019s East Side.Koch is also reportedly taking a particular interest in his home court, where there is a special primary for the VillageKoch endorsedRichmond %u2018on the basis of his recordin Congress andhis hard workon behalfof neighborhoods.-%u2019Male Democratic District Leadership. This is not surprising since Koch himself was a District Leader in the Village, a point from which he sprang into the mainstream of New York politics.There%u2019s no question who Koch is supporting, however: Herman Gerson, the candidate of the Village Independent Democrats and the incumbent. Gerson replaced John LoCicero, Koch%u2019s campaign manager in last year%u2019s mayoral campaign who went on to become the Mayor%u2019s special assistant early this year and resigned his district leadership. Koch reportedly made it known among certain VID members%u2014 especially those against changing Villiage precinct lines, a hot issue this summer%u2014 that %u201c we have to win this one for Herman.%u201dGerson%u2019s chief opponent in the race, Mike Battaglino, does not seem to want to play down what will obviously be the Mayor%u2019s avid support for Gerson. Battaglino and his supporters at the Lower West Side Democratic club, in fact, went so far as saying in some campaign literature that VID had %u201cblindly accepted%u201d Westway. VID has gone on record over the years as being a staunch opponent of the interstate, even though Koch changed his position this spring. VID people, no doubt, are quite upset with the allegation, an obvious misrepresentation of the facts, and question the ethics of the statement.%u201c Our contention was that when the crunch comes, VID will give in on Westway along with their M ayor,%u201d Battagiino explains. In other words, he got his tenses mixed up.Whatever Battaglino%u2019s logic, several VID members, including some who appeared sympathetic to Battaglino%u2019s campaign, arepeeved. Perhaps those latter few forgot that what%u2019s at stake%u2014namely, the mantel of Ed Koch and John LoCicero%u2014was also once the mantel of Carmine DeSapio.Ironic TwistsThe Gifford-Richmond race keeps on taking an iropic twist. Gifford also landed an endorsement from a former mayoral hopeful, Percy Sutton. Unlike endorsements that Gifford said he got from Bronx Congressman Robert Garcia and black civic leader Bruce Llewellyn%u2014which were denied by both%u2014this one is for real. But even the Sutton endorsement caused some problems for Gifford%u2014at least from his own point of view.Gifford has said repeatedly that he was not making Richmond%u2019s sexual solicitation charge an issue in the campaign. He has even repeatedly asked the press not to make it a %u201c page one%u201d item in covering the campaign. Yet in making the endorsement, Sutton said %u201cI further believe that the district cannot be adequately represented by an admitted child molester,%u201d referring to Richmond%u2019s public confession that he had solicited a black male youth.Then again, Gifford couldn%u2019t be too troubled by the statement. In the press release, announcing the Sutton endorsement, the Gifford for Congress campaign repeats the Sutton %u201c child m olester%u201d quotation.R9Inklings By SssbsisThursday, August 17, 1978